


All Living Things Must Die

by Meeralith



Series: All Living Things Series [2]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: AU, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Large project, M/M, Multi, Space Vampires, canon-divergence, cosmic horror, eldritch horror, from bad to worse, or rather a twist on that because Lovecraft can suck my dick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 09:31:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15704517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meeralith/pseuds/Meeralith
Summary: (Set after a heavily modified SGA:Legacy - no, you don't need to have read Legacy, just the previous work in this series)The Aftermath of a war is never a nice thing to handle. Even worse when ghosts of your past, the horrors you've been trying to shield the Galaxy from resurface. And even worse than that, when said horrors start eating stars.





	All Living Things Must Die

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Part Two! Finally... I kept postponing this, but anyways - here we are!
> 
> If you're new to this series, please make sure to read part one first!  
> As always, this work has a playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbSkduxaRhPjhpAwYCBbf3zcJRxuAEh3e

All Living Things Must Die

Prologue: Darkness

One would think that Helena, newly appointed Admiral of the united Vampire fleet, would have it easy after the war again Queen Death. After all, the Galaxy is finally calm again, and as peaceful as Pegasus would get.  
Her people under one banner again, no more infighting, no massive threat forcing them to ally with humans. Her ship, far away from Atlantis, floating idly side by side with the Far Traveled, Ivory's Hive. There's no real threat from the City of the Ancients anymore, too. Ever since Nova took Death's place, they had been working together with her, trying to make coexistence possible.

Helena should be content with her situation, as she sits here, lounging in the Captain's seat, as her ship orbits an uninhabited planet at the outskirts of a small solar system.  
She should be, yes, but there is this lingering dread in the back of her mind, this fear she never thought she'd have to face again.

It's been months, and still no sign of Euridice, or her entourage. Part of Helena had hoped that her and her old friend could reconcile, mend the wounds Death had torn, as foolish as that may be. 

A conflict so large, it put the entire Galaxy at risk. Human worlds, bombed into oblivion. It's not just that, which worries Helena, no. This unease she's feeling began when the Atlantis expedition first made its presence known, and the many battles they fought ever since.  
Conflict, yes. Fear, hate, pain and anger.  
Helena knows that these are dangerous concepts in Pegasus.

She rises from her seat, and walks toward the large window, peering out into space.  
Her kind had been there, ten thousand years ago, during the war with the Ancients, this long battle with massive losses on both sides, a seemingly never-ending cycle of bloodshed.

It was only natural for her to side with her fellow immortals, back then. Hidden behind their secrecy as usual, her people had pulled strings in this war, subtly tipping the scales in favor of the Wraith, unseen and without expecting gratitude.  
Just for the war to end sooner.

Yes, Helena knows that war in this Galaxy is dangerous, and the conflicts that have raged outside her control up until now frighten her.  
With the enemy defeated, Helena now waits to pay the price.

Because there is always a price.

–

Fairheart is by Nova's side again, as they stand in her throne room, gazing into the stars. There is a serene sense of comfort next to this human woman, and even though Nova cannot speak to her the way she would speak to another Wraith, she feels understood.

Jennifer Keller and her had been the ones to bring down Death's reign of terror. Just when Nova was ready to give in, to die, Jennifer had helped her go on, walk the last steps into her freedom.  
There's more than gratitude for her.  
Nova gave her a name, worthy of her kin, and authority on this Hive.  
Fairheart, the Mistress of Sciences Biological, because fair is her heart, and fair is her mind.

Nova sees her move, point at something far away. The ship is between solar systems, and the one ahead seems to have piqued Fairheart's interest.  
“Is that normal?” she asks Nova, who follows her finger, and catches a glimpse of what Fairheart is referring to.

It looks like a nebula, all things considered, except it does not give off light, instead it seems to draw light inward, a dark, blanketing mass of blackness. It creeps past the planets, likely darkening the skies for their people, into the center.

“....No.” Nova says, watching with narrowed eyes, as the fog closes in to the solar system's center, spreading out as it reaches the sun.  
She may not be an experienced Queen, nor has she spent much time observing cosmic phenomena like this, but Nova is certain that this is not supposed to be happening. The fog is blocking the life-giving light of the sun to its planets.

“What is it doing?” There's alarm in Fairheart's voice now, and Nova realizes exactly what this cloud of nebulous darkness is doing.

Like a membrane, a coat of non-existence, it wraps itself around the star, unharmed by its heat and radiation. For a while, it remains like this, coiled around the blazing orb, and Nova's breath halts.

Then, the planets fall... out of line. The smaller ones begin orbiting the bigger ones, while those drift idly, no longer in any gravitational pull, as the dark fog gives up its spherical formation, and silently continues on its path.

The death of a star. A Supernova. The phenomenon that she is named after.  
Nova knows, such an event is not supposed to be so quick and quiet, like snuffing out a candle. Her gaze is fixed on the orphaned planets, clinging to each other like frightened children.

Fairheart has stumbled a few steps backward.  
“Nova, the people! Three of these planets were populated!” she calls out, ripping the young Queen from her terrified trance.  
Three human worlds, left in darkness. How high are the chances of finding survivors?

'Rain. I want all our Darts to cull the system ahead.' she instructs her Commander, keeping the tremble from her mental voice. 'Gather the human cargo in any hospitable room we have available.'

“Nova!”  
Fairheart has grabbed her by the shoulders, misinterpreting her silence as shock.  
“I am deploying Darts to evacuate what is left of this solar system.” she informs her. “If there is anything left to save...”

Fairheart nods.  
“I'll-... I should be ready to treat the survivors,...”

She leaves Nova behind, and yet again, the Queen feels like just a little girl, ill-equipped to deal with a threat much too big for her.


End file.
